Surveys and Interviews

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Review and Prior Approval of Certain Surveys, Interviews and Other Information

Independent "third-party" researchers, for example colleges and universities, sometimes request permission to gather survey or interview information from students. The district’s Department of Research and Evaluation must approve any third-party research before it can begin. Part of that approval process includes prior notification to parent(s)/guardian(s) of any surveys or interviews and the opportunity to inspect the materials. After inspection of the materials, parent(s)/ guardian(s) may request that their child(ren) not participate in the survey/interview. Parent(s)/guardian(s) with questions or concerns about any surveys or interviews may contact the Director of Student Data Science Analytics.

Sometimes surveys conducted by, or on behalf of, the school district are viewed by some parent(s)/guardian(s) as being overly personal or private. If a survey conducted by, or on behalf of, the school district includes one or more items pertaining to the list below, the district shall protect the privacy of individual student responses:

Political affiliations or beliefs of the student, the student’s parent or members of the student’s household;

Mental or physical problems of the student, the student’s family or members of the student’s household;

Sexual behavior or attitudes;

Illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating or demeaning behavior;

Critical appraisals of other individuals with whom respondents have close family relationships;

Legally recognized privileged or analogous relationships, such as those of lawyers, physicians and ministers;

Religious practices, affiliations or beliefs of the student, the student’s parent or members of the student’s household; or

Income (other than that required by law to determine eligibility for participation in a program for receiving financial assistance under such program).

If the survey containing one or more of the items listed above is conducted or funded, in whole or in part, by the United States Department of Education, consent of the parent or student, who is 18 years old or is an emancipated minor under state law, is required prior to administering the survey. If the survey is not funded by the Department of Education, the parents may opt-out of the survey. The district will provide sufficient time for parent(s)/ guardian(s) to review the survey and, after review, request that their child(ren) not participate. Parents/guardians have a right to review, upon request, instructional materials used in connection with surveys that contain one or more of the protected areas listed above.

The review and opt out provisions also apply to the collection, disclosure or use of student information for marketing purposes. They do not apply to the collection, disclosure or use of information for: 1) college or postsecondary or military recruitment, 2) book clubs, magazines and programs providing access to low-cost literary products, 3) curriculum and instructional materials, 4) tests and assessments used to provide data about student achievement, 5) fundraising efforts by school-related organizations, or 6) student recognition programs.